October Nights in Absaroka
by Inthannon
Summary: They've danced around this thing between them for what seems like forever. Maybe it is time to move on. Vic's car leaves her stranded and the situation brings about changes. Will be multi-chapter, will possibly raise the rating in later chapters but for now it's T for cussing. Vic/Walt introspection and fluff.
1. Broken Down

The full moon was hanging on the sky like a huge wheel of cheese, yellow and heavy. The clouds that had been raining on Absaroka County for the last few days had finally cleared earlier in the evening and the night was breathtakingly clear. It seemed to Vic that she could see for miles around by the light of the moon, too bad that there was nothing for miles around but the open grasslands and the road that was quiet as the grave this time of night. Annoyed, she kicked the wheel of her truck. The damn thing had died on her and while she knew a little of mechanics, it wouldn't help her charge a dead battery.

Frustrated she had tried the radio, but since it ran off the car battery, it had remained depressingly dead as well. Digging out her cell phone she was about to call the office for someone to come and give her car a jump start until she saw that she had no signal.

"Oh course not… That would have been too damn helpful." Continuing to swear to herself under her breath, she stalked to the back door and pulled out her jacket to ward off the cool autumn night air. She checked the flashlight on her belt, took out her keys from the ignition and locked the car. She knew it was rare for the residents of Absaroka to lock their doors (whether car or house) for the night, but old habits seemed to die hard and spending most of her life in Philadelphia had taught her to lock her doors. She started walking towards Durant, hoping to see someone soon, or get enough reception to call the office for someone to pick her up.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

Two hours later, there was still no traffic on the road, no signal on her phone and now her battery was also dying. Cursing some more, she checked again and to her relief saw one bar's worth of signal, which disappeared as soon as she saw it. Taking a step forward there was nothing, taking a step back the bar appeared only to disappear again. She tried moving to the centre of the road, again with no success. Taking a few steps into the brush by the side of the road, the single bar appeared again, this time staying put.

The eternal dance of the signalless done, she sighed with relief and rang the office. It rang, and rang, and rang. Nobody was picking up. Hanging up she looked at the clock and realised that it was one fifteen in the morning and Ferg, who had been on duty until one, had probably just left the station and since it was a week night that just left Vic herself on call. That left her with two choices as Branch was on holiday out of town. She could call Ferg, who would be tired but still awake, or Walt, who was enjoying a much needed, all too rare couple of days off. Quickly dialling Ferg, the call went straight to his voice mail. Trying again, this time at his house, again she got no response. Feeling guilty for calling Walt so late on his day off, she dialled his number. Surprisingly he answered on the second ring.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

"Longmire."

"Hey Walt. I'm sorry for calling on your day off but my car died on route-"

"Vic? Vic, you there?"

The call had cut out. Worry was rising in his chest as he wondered why Vic hadn't been able to get in touch with Ferg, either via the radio or on the phone. He tried re-dialling Vic, but got nothing but her voice mail. He turned on the radio and called for her and for Ferg a couple of times. Nothing. Now the worry was starting to swirl inside, making him think of all sorts of scenarios that could have caused Vic's car to die and her to be stranded god knew where, not to mention be desperate enough to call on his day off. She had been a major player in getting him to take a few days off, insisting on taking on a few extra shifts so he could get some r'n'r after finding out what his wife's murder had been all about.

He decided to call Ferg again, this time at home. When Ferg picked up Walt could feel the worry in his chest ease a bit.

"Do you know where Vic is?"

"Last I heard she went to check a disturbance at the McKay ranch. Why?" The last word came out muffled as Ferg seemed to be stifling a yawn.

"I just got a call off her, something about her car breaking down. Then the call cut off."

"Oh. Why didn't she try to call me?"

"She probably did, but you weren't picking up. I just tried too and it just went straight to voice mail."

"Oh, it must have run out of batteries. Sorry Walt, I'll just head back out and go get her."

"Don't worry Ferg, you sound dead on your feet. Go to bed and I'll get Vic. I'm closer anyway."

"You sure Walt? It is your day off." Ferg sounded like he fervently wished for Walt to answer 'yes'.

"I'll take care of it. See you tomorrow Ferg."

"Thanks Walt. Night"

"Night."


	2. Moonlight Musings

A/N So this story has kept bugging me until I wrote more. I think I'm almost where I want to leave it around chapter 4, so this should be about 5-6 chapters all together. Reviews are always appreciated! They feed the muse…

And as always, I don't own anything. I just take 'em out to play.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

The road seemed to never end. Although the night air was cool and fresh after the long period of almost constant rain, it was dry now and Vic wished she'd had a water bottle in the car. She'd worn her new boots that day and the bastards were rubbing her left heel to pieces, not to mention she was pretty sure that her right little toe was about to fall off. She had been keeping count in her head as to the distance she'd covered and how much further she had to go. The call she'd been on had been right on the border of the county and not anywhere near a main road, so she'd been a long way away from Durant, or anywhere for that matter. She'd made it less than half way back. The drive was about 50 minutes on a clear road, if you were driving 70 miles an hour. Estimating she had driven back about 25 of the 58 miles to Durant, and walked for another 10 miles, she still had approximately another 23 miles to go. It would be dawn by the time she reached civilisation. Great.

There might be farm houses and ranches on the way, but usually those stood well back from the road, and as she still didn't have an exact map of the county in her head like Walt seemed to have, she was unwilling to risk taking a side road that could add an extra couple of miles to her trek. Especially since she had no idea whether there was anything in the other end. And now that she'd called Walt, she hoped that he could get Ferg to either tell him where she had been and come and get her, or send Ferg. She didn't want to miss them. So she kept drudging.

As she looked up, the moon seemed to be looking down at her and suddenly she realised the beauty of the place she was in. The stars dotted the sky from horizon to horizon, casting an intricate web of shining diamonds over the inky blue of the sky, the moon like a giant pearl, yellowed with age hanging balanced from the web. It was breath taking. It was views like this that reminded her why she had decided to stay in Wyoming after Sean had packed his bags and headed for the better position in Australia. Her finger reached to touch the spot on her left ring finger that still felt empty, even after two months of not wearing a ring.

Of course, the scenery wasn't the only reason to stay. As much as she'd disliked it in her first few months, Absaroka had since become her home, for better or for worse. And a big part of that was because of the quiet, reserved man this county had elected to be their sheriff. Vic knew she cared for Walt, had done for a long time. She readily acknowledged that it might have been more than just caring and that it might have had an effect on how fast her marriage had fallen apart. It wasn't Walt's fault, far from it, but she had a feeling that she would have gritted her teeth for longer if she hadn't been a bit torn to begin with.

There were many complications in starting anything more than a friendship with Sheriff Walt Longmire. Main one being that he had a daughter that wasn't much younger than Vic herself, a daughter who seemingly did not care for Vic. Not to mention that in a small town like theirs, nothing ever stays a secret, just like Cady and Branch's little dalliance. Vic didn't have many friends in Absaroka apart from the people she worked with, but she didn't want to lose them over a small town scandal.

Vic knew that Walt cared for her. There had been something developing between them for the longest time. She could still remember one of the first times she had alluded to her more than professional feelings towards him. In the hospital when she'd been shot with that tranquilizer while hunting with Omar. The stuff had given her a fuzzy head and some serious room-spinnage, but she could still remember babbling to Walt about how Sean had wanted to move to Australia.

"_That's cause you're a man, Walt."_ She could still remember the awkward look on his face and she could understand why it would make him feel that way. She had basically told him that her husband was not a man at all compared to him. But there was truth in what she had said; Walt would never have considered taking such an offer without discussing it with his wife. She knew now he had kept his wife's murder under wraps, but that was done in order to protect their only daughter, not to save another argument at home.

For a moment she allowed herself to consider what home might feel like when you didn't have to fight about everything with the people, or person, you shared it with. She could almost see it, her and Walt, living in his cabin, spending evenings sitting on the couch in front of the fire reading to each other, sleeping in the bedroom wrapped around one another, and waking up in the morning to make coffee and drink it on the porch, looking out over the vast wilderness surrounding their home. They wouldn't argue much, ok so maybe she would try to start arguments, but he would just look at her in that silent way of his and the arguments would die on her lips, then be brushed away by the touch of his.

This dream image was broken by a memory of what life had been like with Sean. Her coming home from a late shift, wanting nothing but to curl up on the sofa for a bit of peace and him starting to nag to her about how late she'd been out, how he never saw her anymore, how he didn't even know her anymore. And how she responded, throwing accusations of extra work trips, hours spent locked into his office with his secretary, of how he never understood how tiring and horrible and disheartening her job could be. And then they'd fall on each other like ravenous wolves, attacking with kisses and bites, hands and other body parts until they'd both lie in bed, reeling and out of breath, complimenting the other person for the wonderful sex. For a long time, their relationship had been held together by the great make up sex.

Looking at the sky again, she took a deep breath of the clean air and let go of all those memories and dreams, letting herself drift under the open sky, empty of all the drama, weightless.

Her musings were paused when she saw headlights in the distance, coming towards her. Taking out her flashlight, she turned it on and off a few times, before leaving it on and waving it at the oncoming car. When it pulled up beside her, she recognised the shape of the man and his hat inside the cab of the car and sauntered up to the window he was rolling down.

"Ma'am. What seems to be the problem?" he asked, nodding his head at her, trying to hold back a smile.

"Sheriff, oh thank goodness you arrived when you did. I have been walkin' for hours and had quite given up hope of rescue." She put on her best, and horribly fake, country accent, playing along with his charade.

"Well ma'am, why don't you jump on in and I'll give you a lift home."

"Thank you ever so much, sheriff." She chuckled to herself as she skipped around the front of the car before climbing into the warmth of the cab. Breathing deep, she could smell Walt; leather, dust and a hint of sweat. The smell eased her mind further and as she sat down on the seat, taking the weight off her poor battered feet, she groaned loudly, her head falling against the headrest with a thump. She could see Walt out of the corner of her eye, stiffening a little at the noise, then shifting in his seat as he adjusted the blowers to maximise the warm air reaching her.

"Thanks Walt." She said quietly, turning to look at him.

"No problem Vic. I'm glad you called." He turned the car around and started heading back towards Durant.

"My car is still out there. The battery died."

"We'll get it tomorrow. It's late now. Let's just go and get some sleep."

"Ok."

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

They sat in silence for a long while as Walt drove back towards town. He hadn't been expecting to have his heart jump with joy the way that it had when he'd seen Vic there, standing by the side of the road and swinging her flashlight around. He always enjoyed the little exchanges they had and hadn't been able to help the desire to make her smile. He had found himself smiling as well when she'd skipped around the front of his truck and opened the passenger door.

The mood had shifted for him when she'd taken her seat and let out a sound that wouldn't have been out of place in the bedroom. It brought images to his mind of blonde hair spread out on a pillow and pale golden skin bared to his touch. Surreptitiously he shifted in his seat, trying to gain more space in the suddenly quite restrictive jeans as he directed all the warm air in the cab towards her. The night air was turning chilly, bringing with it promises of frost and snow and she had been walking for a long while.

He told her they'd worry about her truck tomorrow and after that they fell into a comfortable silence. Every once in a while, probably more often than was strictly speaking safe, he turned to look at her as she stared out of the passenger side window deep in thought. One time he looked over, she was asleep, elbow resting on the door handle, cheek pressed on her open hand. He contemplated on what to do, but decided against driving to his cabin and carrying her inside before tucking her into his bed. A bit too caveman, he felt.

When they reached Vic's house, he reached over to lay a hand on her shoulder. Instead of waking up straight away, she shifted a little into his touch. Shaking her gently he called her name.

"Vic. Vic, we're here."

Slowly her eyes opened and she looked around, rising to sit up straight on her seat. She looked over at him, seeming to take the hand still on her shoulder in stride, a little smile playing along her lips.

"Thanks Walt, but I don't live here anymore." For a moment he was puzzled, what did she mean, this was her home. Her and her… ex-husband, who was now in Australia.

"When did you move?"

"Couple of days back when I had that day off. I gave all the paperwork to Ruby so on file you have my right address." She told him where to go and he started driving again.

"Sorry I didn't tell you before. I completely forgot you didn't know. And I'm sorry I called on your day off."

"Don't worry about it. And never feel the need to apologise for calling for help. I know you couldn't get hold of Ferg, I couldn't either for a while."

"Where was he?"

"On his way home. No battery on the cell. Like yours I assume?"

"Yeah. Sometimes they're not that useful." There was a smiled playing around her lips again and he could feel his follow suit.

When they made it to the edge of town, Walt was eyeing the building Vic said she lived in suspiciously. It seemed to be a three storey block of flats, grey and dirty in the light cast by the street lights, like some kind of soviet prison block. There was loud music pumping from the ground floor flat with all the lights still on and Vic groaned.

"Oh no. They're at it again."

"At what?"

"They're my next door neighbours and they bang like rabbits, while listening to the worst, crappy music made on this planet. Sometimes it sounds like they're trying to break through the wall using their bed as a battering ram." Maybe she imagined the slight blush on his face as she regaled him with what her neighbours were up to.

"You won't be able to sleep here. Do you-" he cut himself off, not sure how to offer without offering everything he wanted to offer and wanted her to accept.

"Do I what?" she asked, a look in her eye that Walt was sure meant that she knew exactly what he was trying to say and not to say.

"Would you like to come over to my place? It's a bit farther, but the neighbours are quiet and you can even have my bed. After all I have spent many a night on that couch."

He tried to turn the end to a joke, but instead he had conjured up Lizzie's voice to being.

"…_I was willing to live with that, because I thought there was a part of you put aside for me, but there's not because you're saving it for her! … Oh Walt, of course there is. You're just too afraid to admit it."_

He had been afraid to admit it. And she had been married until recently. But now… now Vic was divorced and he could finally admit that there was an attraction there. Had been for a long time, but neither one of them had done anything about it. Partly due to working together, partly because he was a recent widower and she had been married. Now they could and the idea down right terrified him.

"Oh. Ok… if you're sure. I wouldn't want to impose, but I could use a decent night's sleep." She smiled wanly, trying to convince him that she would be fine at hers but would like to come to his. He looked at her and for the first time noticed the extra lines around her mouth, the dark circles around her eyes that he hadn't really paid much attention to before. That decided it for him.

"Ok. Let's go." He started his truck again and they took or towards his cabin.


	3. Break of Dawn

A/N So I'm going on holiday this Saturday and won't come back until the next Saturday, so there will be a short break in chapter updates… Sorry. Anyways here's chapter three.

As always, just playing with the characters, don't own anything and I'm not earning anything.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

The thoughts were skittering in Vic's mind, chasing each other in ever tightening circles. _She was going to Walt's with him. She was going to spend the night at his cabin. She was going to Walt's with him…_ She was scared and elated at the same time, wondering how she could make the journey less awkward, how to talk to him. Too late she realised she didn't have any clothes to sleep in other than her jeans, her uniform top and the decidedly skimpy sleeveless top she had underneath. Deciding to face that hurdle when they got to it, she kept looking at the moon on the sky as they headed out of town and towards his home.

The cabin looked much the same as before with the exception of the lights being out and the roof shining under the white light of the moon. They got out of the car and Walt led the way to the door, fumbling with his keys as Vic waited by the stairs leaning on the pillar and looking out at the view. When she heard the door creak open behind her, she spun around nearly colliding with Walt, who had just been turning to face her. He grabbed her shoulders to stop her from stumbling back and falling off the porch while she rested her hands against his upper arms for support. When he realised how close together they were standing he stepped back and she heard him clear his throat in the dark.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her towards the door he had caught before it swung shut, his hand moving to the small of her back as she stepped forward. She could hear him seek for the light switch in the dark as she stood motionless in the middle of the room, so she wouldn't bump into anything. When the lights finally flickered on the interior of the cabin was revealed to be almost exactly as she remembered. She looked around while Walt made his way around the room, turning on a desk lamp, his bedroom light and the kitchen light before turning around to face her.

"Can I get you anything? Beer?" he asked.

"I'm technically still on call and my boss doesn't approve of drinking while on call." She said with a straight face and feeling the absurd desire to giggle as he blushed a little. "A glass of water would be nice. Walking is thirsty business."

"Sure thing." He said as he turned to the kitchen getting her a glass of cool water.

"Since I'm still on call and the radio is here, I'll take the couch." Vic informed him indicating the radio sitting on the table near the door.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Thanks Walt. For everything."

"You're welcome. Let me get you some pillows and a blanket. Would you want me to light a fire?" He rummaged through the cupboard where he kept extra pillows and blankets. Picked out what was needed and handed the pile to Vic.

"I'll be alright. The blanket will be plenty warm. Thanks."

They looked at each other for an awkward length of time that felt like several minutes but was probably just a few seconds before he turned around and walked to his bedroom door. As he turned to shut it behind him he saw her put the pillow on one end of the couch and shake out the blanket. He looked at her surreptitiously for a moment before quietly wishing her good night.

"Good night Walt." She replied with a smile, equally quietly before moving to the radio to turn it on and to switch off the main light. She made her way to the couch and contemplated on how many clothes to take off. In the end she only pulled off her uniform shirt and her boots before tucking her legs on the sofa and burrowing her face into the pillow that smelled of Walt. She was asleep as soon as her eyes closed.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

Vic woke up to soft curses floating from somewhere. For a brief moment she thought someone had broken in to her place before she opened her eyes and saw the interior of Walt's cabin. She spent a moment just lying there, enjoying the warmth of the sun streaming through the windows, breathing deep the smell of coffee and Walt's house, enjoying the quiet atmosphere, apart from the swearing cowboy in the kitchen. Smiling to herself she stretched her arms above her head and over the armrest of the couch, her back arched up, feeling glorious crack and release of pressure in her vertebrae.

"Damn!" Another expletive came from the kitchen and as Vic turned to look, she saw Walt holding two cups of steaming coffee and judging by the puddle at his feet, he had just spilt some. Quickly he shoved the cups onto a table and shook his wrist to get rid of the hot liquid that was burning there. Vic bounced up to hurry past him and grab a piece of kitchen roll from the counter and crouched down to wipe the floor dry before one of them slipped. When she looked up, she could see Walt watching her with a gleam in his eye she had not often seen there before. Slowly she stood up, accepted the coffee cup from him and they adjourned to the porch.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

Walt had thought it would be nice to wake up his favourite deputy with a cup of hot coffee. He had stopped for a few minutes before entering the kitchen to take in the sight of her on his couch. Her hair released from its ponytail spreading around her like a halo, face snuggled into the pillows left on the couch. Her frame mostly hidden by the blanket he'd had on the back of the couch except for one shoulder peeking out, almost glowing in the sunlight streaming through the windows.

Shaking himself from his reverie he'd gone to the kitchen. Nothing had gone to plan there. He had had no clean cups, necessitating the washing of two, he had spilled coffee grounds all over the floor when he'd been opening the coffee jar Cady had bought him recently and then he'd managed to spill hot water on the counter too. However it was the last in the line of spills that he truly could not blame on tiredness. As he turned to carry the cups into the living room to wake up Vic, he saw that she was already awake. Her back was arched up, her arms above her head, but what really caught his attention were her breasts pushing up into the air, begging to be acknowledged. He would have had to be dead not to acknowledge them. Her sleeveless top was white and had worn thin with many washes, the black bra visible as a shadow underneath it, especially with the way the sunlight was framing her, like it too wanted to get as close as possible to Victoria Moretti.

As her stretch ended he jerked out of his reverie and spilled yet again, this time it was hot coffee all over his wrist. Cursing he put the coffees on the nearest flat surface and shook his arm to get the burning liquid off. When he looked again, Vic was crouched over, wiping the floor with a piece of kitchen paper. When she looked up, he had a straight view down her cleavage that was already on display a whole lot more than it normally was, with her top being a little skewed and the black bra peeking out of the neckline. Quickly he forced his gaze to her eyes, but was sure he'd been caught leering. Oh, he was a dirty old man, straight on his way to hell.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

Vic had a pretty shrewd idea that Walt had just been ogling at her boobs, but she had to admit that her flimsy undershirt had made them very prominent. She smiled a little to herself as she sipped her coffee and turned towards the front door.

"Thanks." She said as he nodded and followed her out.

They sat down on the chairs on the porch, looking out across the plains the early morning sun glittering on dew drops that had gathered on the blades of grass during the night. The silence wrapped itself around them again, but it was not awkward or tense anymore, like it had been last night. The serenity of the morning seemed to be stripping them of the charged atmosphere that had ruled them inside and they slowly became Sheriff Longmire and Deputy Moretti again, although the newfound closeness could not entirely be erased by them stepping back to their everyday roles.


	4. Communication is Key

Despite being up very early, Vic and Walt had been later than normal getting to the station thanks to a quick stop at Vic's so she could grab a shower and a fresh uniform. She had returned to his truck smelling clean and fresh, her hair wet, twisted into a bun and a few drops of water still shimmering on her neck from her shower. Walt found himself staring at the way the droplets clung to her skin, wondering all sorts of things he shouldn't even have been thinking of. He shook himself and started driving towards the station, stopping at a bakery to grab something to eat. He'd asked Ruby to call a tow truck to go and get Vic's car, as just a battery problem wouldn't have stopped it if the engine had been running.

Their whole morning had included many more casual touches than was normal. Mainly just their hands, handing over and accepting coffee cups, reaching for the baked goods at the same time, he had even laid a hand on the small of her back again at the front door of the station. The warmth of her back radiated up his arm with a tingling sensation that made him think about heart attacks for a moment. Once inside the office they were all soon pouring over documents, pictures and maps trying to find a drug dealer that had recently started operating around the Absaroka and Cumberland counties, selling mainly ecstasy, but also anything that would give a person a break from reality. The progress was slow as the guy seemed to be very careful.

At lunch time he had closed the door to cut off the noise of the main office as Cady had come to visit him in his office for lunch. She'd picked up their order from the Busy Bee and now they sat across from each other by his desk, him eyeing his paperwork with one eye, Cady frowning at his half-hearted dedication to his food.

"Ok dad. What is it?"

"What do you mean punk?"

"What is up with you? You're not really eating your food, more like playing with it, but you're not really doing your paperwork either, as you seem to be reading the same couple of lines for the fifth time."

Walt knew he'd been caught out. He had fallen easily back into his role as sheriff while sitting on the porch with Vic that morning, but that didn't mean that she hadn't been occupying his thoughts. Half of him wanted nothing more than to take them to the next level, to have everything he could with her. The other half was frankly terrified at the consequences of such action, not just how it would change their working dynamics, but how the people closest to them would react.

What would Vic's parents in Philly say when they found out that she'd essentially kicked her successful husband to the curb and switched to a much older backwater sheriff? What would Henry say in all his wisdom, would he think it's a good idea, or would he call Walt a fool and an idiot to think that such a woman would want him? And most important of all, what would Cady say when she found out that he was seeing someone who was only a scant handful of years older than she was? He'd always known that Vic and Cady weren't close, maybe they were too different, or maybe they just hadn't had the time or the opportunity to get to know each other. He realised that he'd been chewing the same bite for much longer than normal and swallowed, wiped his mouth on a paper napkin and took a gulp of his drink. His daughter was giving him the stare he usually gave to stubborn suspects who refused to talk.

"Cady… What- What would you think if I told you that I- that I might be interested in someone? Romantically." He managed to get the words out, wondering what her reaction might be. She obviously was astounded that he'd actually said something that wasn't completely evasive, or totally shutting her out.

"Really? Are you worried I'm going to throw a tantrum because you're ready to try and find someone to be happy with rather than spend the rest of your life mourning mom? You know me better than that. I want you to be happy dad. I want you to find someone you can move on with, like I'm doing with Branch." She looked serious when she said it and Walt believed every word. He was just a bit hesitant about when Cady found out who he was thinking of moving on with.

"So, you and Branch, huh?"

"Yes. Me and Branch, but you knew that already. We've not been sneaking around anymore." She replied with a happy smile. Walt was relieved to know that his daughter could be that happy with someone. "So who is it?"

"Who, what?"

"You know what I'm talking about dad. Who are you interested in romantically? Is it Lizzie? I thought you guys called it quits?"

"We did. It's not Lizzie."

"Spill."

"We're still figuring things out at the moment. I'll tell you as soon as we're both on the level."

"You're going to talk? Voluntarily?" He could hear the joking tone in her voice and smiled at her, shaking his head. His life was going to get very interesting soon with two strong, stubborn, beautiful women in it. If he could sort through his feelings and actually talk to Vic before someone else took the chance.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

Henry was standing at the bar, drying a glass before putting on the counter and pouring a shot of whiskey into it and pushing it towards the man sitting on a bar stool, who looked like that should be the last drink of his night.

"Walt. What a nice surprise. What can I do for you?"

"Henry. Can we talk in your office?"

"Sure. Angie, take the bar for a while will you?" The girl he was talking to nodded and Henry started moving towards his office door with Walt following.

"So, what is it? I assume its police business; otherwise we could have conversed in the bar."

"Not exactly. I need your advice. And your discretion." Unconsciously his hand rose to the back of his neck to smooth through the hair there.

"You have it."

"What should I do about Vic?"

"What should you do about Vic?" The look Walt gave Henry was stern and serious, but it just brought a smile on his oldest friend's face. The silence between them stretched as Walt stared at Henry and he looked back.

"Alright, you win. What do you want to do about Vic?"

"I- We- She spent the night. On my couch." He felt the need to clarify.

"On your couch." Judging by the tone of Henry's voice, Walt had done something wrong.

"I did offer the bed, but she wouldn't hear it."

"Not to share the bed?"

"No. It wasn't like that. Although…"

"You wanted it to be."

"I think we both did. The morning after was nice. Better than nice. I wanted it to last."

"So you care for her." Henry gave him a shrewd look. "Normally in such cases one asks the person one cares about out on a date. Dinner, movie, drinks, something."

"But…"

"But you are concerned about the opinion of others. Perhaps even your professional relationship?"

"Yes. She is my deputy after all. And younger by about a decade."

"She is. Does she feel as you do?"

"I think so. She seems happy to spend time with me."

"Then ask her out."

"But…"

"You wanted my advice, this is it. You have mourned your wife for two years and apart from the brief thing with Lizzie this is the first time you have shown any interest. You are allowed to find new happiness. Ask her out. Who cares what everyone else thinks, so long as you are both happy."

"Cady and her are almost…"

"Yes, she is younger, but consider this Walt, she left her husband after she met you and she stayed in a place she professed to hate when she first moved here." With that Henry turned and headed out the door back into the noise of the bar. Walt stayed perched on the edge of Henry's desk for a moment longer spinning his hat slowly in his hands, deep in thought.


	5. F-F-F-Falling

A/N So I might have lied before.. I'm currently writing Chapter 6 and I'm not sure the story is done yet. I make no further promises on the length of the story until I've finished writing it.

Anyway, this was the last chapter I had pre-written before going on holiday so I expect there to be a few days before the next update. Reviews make me want to write more! Thanks to all of you who have reviewed, and for all your encouragement. Glad to know you like it, although you might hate me after this chapter. :D _Which just means I'm doing my job well._

Enjoy! And remember they're not mine, not even close.

Oh, and if you can spot the Firefly/Castle reference, good on you! :D

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

The next morning the blonde who has been haunting his thoughts since the second night they'd spent together in his cabin, peeked her head into his office with a bright smile on her face.

"Morning Walt! Coffee?" He looked into his cup and finding it empty got up and walked over to her.

"Morning. And thanks." Looking down at her, he can see the marks of a badly slept night on her face, the deepened grooves and shadows around her eyes. "Another loud night for the neighbours?"

"Yep. I don't know how they keep it up. Literally." She chuckled at her own joke and he couldn't help but have the corners of his lips rising with her just as he could feel a slight blush rising on his cheeks at her ribald joke. She looked up into his face and grinned even wider, spotting the traces of blush staining his cheeks. Before either of them could say anything more, Branch wandered in carrying a bag of goodies from the bakery and Vic was instantly distracted, probably for the best. Walt had just been taken over by a fierce urge to bend down and capture her lips in a kiss. Giving himself a little shake he approached Branch and appropriated a still warm croissant from the bag.

"Anything new happen while I was gone?" Branch asked returning from his holiday and they proceed to fill him in on the major developments, which included yet another bout of domestic disturbance calls at the house of a couple who were the poster children of on-again-off-again relationships and the new drug dealer that had surfaced in the area.

"Speaking of which, I have a lead on where we might find the distributor." Vic revealed as she sat down and started shifting through some of the papers scattered about her desk. Finally she managed to locate a torn piece of envelope as she stuffed the rest of her croissant into her mouth.

"This-" It came out muffled thanks to the pastry still in her mouth, but she chewed quickly and swallowed, still waiving the paper in front of her. "This is what I jotted down at home after overhearing my neighbours' plans for tomorrow evening. Apparently there is this rave that goes on every Saturday in a different location each time to keep 'the law' out, but now I have a source on the inside. Knew those paper thin walls would come in handy." She grinned and held out the quickly scratched notes she'd taken down the previous night.

He reached for the piece of paper and purposefully brushed the tips of his fingers against hers, before slowly pulling back with the note clutched in his fingers. He made sure to keep his eyes on Vic when their fingers touched and he couldn't have imagined a sweeter sight and sound than the slight gasp and tremble that seemed to run through her. She raised her eyes to his just a moment before he dropped his eyes to the note she had scribbled last night. He could see her eyes widen and a faint blush spreading across her cheeks as she saw the slight upwards tilt of his lips and realised he'd done it on purpose.

"Good. I'll get in touch with the Sheriff Wilkes in Cumberland county and get them to participate too, the party is going to be on the border of our counties after all. I'll let you know the plan when we've co-ordinated." With that Walt broke the spell and turned to his office with the information in his hand, thoughts of coffee completely forgotten.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

As the youngest looking members of the team, (and ones who hadn't blasted their faces across all local TV channels in the vain hope of stealing their boss' job) and therefore least likely to stick out like sore thumbs, Vic and Ferg were chosen to go undercover into the rave itself to try to find the person or persons selling the drugs. When Walt pulled up outside the warehouse where the party was happening, he spotted the cars of the Cumberland county sheriff and his two deputies a little way away and casually strolled towards them. As he wasn't wearing a sheriff's uniform and he had his star in his pocket, he didn't see any need to draw attention to himself by skulking. Besides the streets were empty and the party was in full swing.

"Evening sheriff."

"Evening. Your men in position?" Sheriff Wilkins asked as he looked up at the abandoned warehouse that was now anything but abandoned.

"Yep. I've got two people inside and one at the back of the building making sure the dealer doesn't leave that way."

"Good, I've got two men at the back and these two here. You in contact with your people inside?"

"Not in constant contact. They can handle themselves and they can always call if something comes up."

"You finally broken and gotten a cell phone then Walt?"

"Nope, but Branch has one and he'll radio me if something comes up."

Sheriff Wilkins laughed and shaking his head he moved towards his truck, motioning Walt to follow.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

The party was in full swing when Vic got to it. She tugged down the uncomfortably short skirt, but then realised that no one else was worrying about showing too much skin, rather that she was covering too much. The extent to which the women went to attract male attention never ceased to stagger her. There was a girl in front of her that couldn't have been much over the age of eighteen, if that, who was barely wearing anything apart from her tiny bikini top and micro-shorts that left nothing to the imagination.

Shaking herself to the present, she moved further into the packed room, feeling the urge to cough at the smoke clouding the air. Squinting through the fog, she tried to find Ferg who was also supposed to be somewhere in this mess. Eventually she spotted the sturdy form of her colleague standing near the makeshift bar. Sashaying over the best she could in the ridiculous heels that were a part of her disguise, she leaned against the bar next to Ferg and ordered a beer. She could feel Ferg's eyes lingering on the shortness of the tight skirt and she snuck a peek at him through the curtain of her surrounding her face.

"Hey there. Like what you see?" They were supposed to pretend like they didn't know each other after all.

"I- I…" Ferg stuttered.

"It's ok. Follow me." She paid her beer and grabbed Ferg's empty hand in hers before pulling him towards the side where there was an empty seat near the wall. As he sat down, she purposefully sat down as near as possible and buried her face in his neck.

"Sorry it has to be like this, but you weren't being very convincing. Just relax, make it look like you're necking me and tell me if you've spotted anything." He seemed a little taken aback at her direct approach, but put down his beer and as she lifted her face up, he buried his in her hair so that his face was shielded from the rest of the room by her.

"There is a lot of people going in and out of the door just opposite from us. I know it's not the toilets, because they're in the other end of the building. Apart from those two, the rest of the place is really a big open space and I haven't been able to see anyone dealing anything."

He lifted his head from her neck and surreptitiously she looked around again, spotting the door Ferg had been talking about as well as being just about able to see the bathroom doors through the haze of smoke.

"Hello baby. Why are you wasting your time with him? Why don't you come and party with me." The voice rudely interrupted her examination of the place and she turned to look at the man who had spoken. Although man was a word she was using very lightly. He looked to be just around the twenty year mark like most of the people at the party, but she could see that he probably couldn't grow a beard if he'd tried and his skin was still suffering from the consequences of being under the effects of raging hormones. The boy was trying to hit above his weight with her, but if it got them a visual of the dealer it would be worth it to pretend to enjoy his attentions.

"You know how to party? I mean_ properly_ party?" she asked, trying to avoid the feeling that if the boy had his way, she would be the cougar he'd be bragging to his friends about for a long time. Suppressing a shiver at the thought of flirting with the kid, she smiled with her lips pursed.

"Heck yeah I know how to party! Lemme show you! Come on." He reached for her hand and yanked her up. She turned to look at Ferg and gave him a quick nod to indicate she'd look behind the door while he should look around the main area.

"So how do you wanna party? All night long, or do you want to feel something special?"

"I want to party all night and I want to feel… shiny." She replied as the boy pulled her into his arms and dropped his hands to her ass, groping hard and keeping her pressed against him. She didn't know if it was supposed to be a turn on, but she was just a little grossed out. When the kid tried to kiss her, she drew the line and pulled out, pouting and saying, "I thought you were going to show me how to party… This isn't the way I hoped we'd start."

"Okay honey, you wanna feel shiny? I'll get you some shine." He grinned at her stupidly, obviously already under the influence of something other than natural hormones and took her hand again, pulling her towards the door Ferg had pointed out.

As they approached, Vic noticed a guy standing by the door she hadn't spotted before, obviously some kind of body guard. The door swung open and a young girl, visibly under the effects of something illegal was pushed unceremoniously out, ending up sprawled across the floor. Vic couldn't stop to help the girl as the boy still had a firm grip on her hand and was pulling her even closer to the door. When they went through it, the room behind was revealed to be almost empty of people and furnished with a table, an old couch and a wooden chair.

The dealer was undoubtedly the man sprawled on the couch, his grey business suit ill-fitting and wrinkled. His muscle was the two guys wearing jeans and plaid shirts (this was cowboy country after all), both obviously carrying guns on their belts, one of whom was guarding the door. The boy sat on the chair in front of the dealer and Vic quickly bent over his shoulder to hide her face from the dealer. The two counties didn't have enough police for her to really trust the guy not recognising one of them by sight, even with the heavy makeup and loose hair. The more she thought about it, the worse this idea seemed. She should have just stuck with Ferg and checked the room through the door that always seemed to be cracked.

"So... What can I do for you." The voice drew her attention to the man on the couch. He was now leaning forwards, resting his elbows on his knees. She looked at him carefully from under her hair and pretended to rummage through the little clutch purse she was carrying for something, while actually unlocking her phone, calling Branch and putting him on speaker phone and muting the volume. They should now know to come in. She just hoped it would be enough. Pulling out a clip, she fussed with her hair, making sure it wouldn't hang in her eyes. Luckily it seemed she was considered to be just decoration, not important enough to be paid attention to while the men did business. Their mistake.

"I'm interested in buying something to get the party going. How much?" the boy asked.

"Well –" That's when the disturbance in the main room became evident, suddenly the music stopped and there was the sound of running feet. The body guard pulled out his gun and started towards the door. Vic saw her chance and as he was passing, she grabbed the wrist holding the gun and twisted. The man seemed taken aback, suddenly his hand was being twisted behind his body and the gun was lying on the floor. Vic kicked it away to the wall and twisted more so the man sank to his knees.

The boy she had come to the room with, looked at her in amazement, seemingly frozen. Unfortunately the dealer was not so shocked, instead he pulled out a gun from the back of his trousers and as if in slow motion, Vic saw him swing it up, finger on the trigger. She sank to her knees, all the while holding on to the man's wrist, trying to be a smaller target. The first shot hit the wall behind her, the second, third and fourth hit the man in front of her. Then she saw a shadow at the door and the dealer was crumbling down to a heap, a hole just above his left ear.

Shaking, she let go of the man in front, who slumped to the ground, and rose to her feet smiling at Walt. But there was something wrong with the way he was looking at her. He should have been happy that everything was fine, they got the bad guy, maybe not exactly the way they'd wanted to, but they had him. She was finding it surprisingly hard to breathe and there was a burning sensation spreading from her side. As she looked down, she could see Walt running across the room out of the corner of her eye, before seeing the stain of blood spreading across the white top she was wearing. As the edges of the world began to dim, she could hear shouting and Walt's arms coming to catch her before she hit the ground.


	6. Holding, Waiting, With Bated Breath

A/N So I finished this chapter a lot sooner than I thought I would. Hope ya'll can forgive me for the cliff-hanger in the last chapter. Anyway, happy reading, let me know what you think!

Oh, and I own nothing.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

When the signal came, everything happened very quickly. Branch radioed in saying that he had a line to Vic in the presence of the dealer and they agreed to move in. Ferg met them at the door and in a few words explained that the dealer was the little room, next to the bar with the guard standing at the door and that some guy had hit on Vic and taken her in there. There was a niggle of worry working its way through Walt's mind at that, they had agreed that Ferg and Vic would stick together. Suddenly the music stopped and after a moments silence the party goers started running. They were rumbled. The guard at the door started to pull out his gun, but Branch, having come in by the other door grabbed it and handily handcuffed his hands behind his back.

There was a thump and some swearing coming from the room and then… It seemed like a race to Walt. The first shot was the starting pistol and then he was running towards the door. There was a small pause until three more came in rapid succession, the final just as he reached the door. All he registered was that Vic was on his left, near the ground, and a man was shooting at her. Not even thinking, he squeezed the trigger and saw the man with the gun jerk and collapse. Turning towards Vic he saw her stand up and for a split second relief flooded him. Until he saw the red stain spreading across her white top, so horribly like the stain that had been on the shirt Martha had been wearing that night when his world had come crashing down.

She seemed not to realise anything was wrong, standing there gasping for breath looking puzzled. Then she looked down and without realising what he was doing, he rushed forward and caught her just as she fell. She was limp in his arms, somewhere on the edges of consciousness.

"Call an ambulance!" He shouted at Ferg who had just stepped in, while trying to push his hand on the wound that was letting Vic's life leak out. He didn't know whether Ferg had started to do anything, but he realised that there was no time. Hands shaking he lifted her into his arms, and started carrying her towards the door.

"Ferg, I need you to drive. Branch, you help Sheriff Wilkes here. Check whether the bastard who shot her is still breathing." He managed to get out while cradling his deputy in his arms and rushing towards his truck. Ferg ran ahead to open the door and helped Walt get Vic and himself settled on the back seat with the minimum amount of fuss and jostling. Vic was still conscious, getting her into the car had roused her a little. Now her hand was gripping his coat, teeth gritting with pain as he pressed his hand against the hole in her side, her moan of pain making his stomach twist.

"Walt…"

"Shh. Save your strength Vic. We'll get you to the hospital in no time." He gently pulled her closer, placing a quick kiss on the top of her head. "Just hang in there."

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

He didn't notice his legs going numb because of her weight resting on his thighs. He didn't notice the way his left arm was trembling slightly as it supported her upper body so her head could rest on his shoulder. What he did notice was the slow seep of blood coming from underneath the dressing he held pressed tightly against her side. He noticed the paleness of her skin, the gasping, rattling quality to her breathing. The way her skin seemed to have turned see-through in the light cast by the occasional car passing, and by the street lights as they approached the hospital. Her eyes were closed; she'd fallen unconscious at some point in the trip, despite his best efforts to keep her awake.

He'd never been an overly religious man, he'd occasionally read the bible and gone to church like most people, but he'd never had much fervour to it. He'd stopped going and praying altogether when Martha had died, not that he'd done it much before that. Now he found himself begging. Begging silently in his head to any deity or higher power who could hear. Making deals that weren't even properly formed in his own mind. _Just let her live. Not again. Anything, just let her live._

Ferg pulled up to the A&E entrance, tyres squealing, seeming to hop out of the car before it had even properly stopped. Walt released the pressure from Vic's wound for a second to throw open the door, just as Ferg ran over with a nurse and a doctor pushing a trolley. Carefully he helped them lift Vic off him and onto the trolley. All he could see was the way her arm rolled, hand flopping over the side of the trolley like she was already gone.

He followed the doctor and the nurse on autopilot, not looking at where he was walking, just following the gleam reflected from Vic's golden hair under the harsh lighting of the hospital. He could recognise Ferg's voice explaining what had happened to the doctor and realised that questions were being asked, but all he could hear was his own desperate thoughts in his head on a loop, _Not again. Not again._

Ferg turned to look at him, holding him back as the medical team pushed Vic's trolley around the corner.

"Come on Walt. Let's go wash your hands and then we'll sit down and wait." Almost hesitantly, Ferg grabbed his elbow and turned him towards the door marked Gents. He let go as Walt went through the door and turned to look at himself in the mirror. Looking back was a tired, old man. A man who had been through too much and was now falling to pieces. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against the cold smooth surface of the mirror.

Slowly but surely he pushed away the loop of thoughts going on inside his head, shook off the horrible fear that just as things seemed to be going well, it all went to hell again. He raised his head and faced himself in the mirror again. Now was no time to fall apart, no matter what was happening. Vic would not appreciate him going to pieces. Turning on the tap, he washed the blood off his hands, bending over to splash some on his face. After drying his face and hands, he opened the door, revealing Ferg standing outside, his back to the door like he was standing guard.

"Thanks Ferg." He said quietly, laying a hand on the younger man's shoulder. A man he almost considered to be a son. Ferg blushed a little and nodded.

"Nothing you wouldn't have done Walt. You think she's going to be ok?"

"I hope so Ferg. I hope so."

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

The wait seemed to be eternal. Walt had managed to push down the mixture of panic and numbness that had been coursing through his mind on the ride over and decided that rather than sit still waiting for news, it would be best if he got working. With a little verbal tussle with the head nurse, he appropriated a phone for police use and called Branch who was still on the scene.

The shooter was not dead, Walt's bullet had hit him on his left shoulder doing a fair bit of damage according to the ambulance crew that had turned up. The man Vic had been using for cover was dead, his boss' shots had torn through his chest and stomach. It was the one through his abdomen that had travelled through the width of his body and hit Vic on the other side. The Cumberland County Sheriff's department had seized about hundred grand's worth of a variety of drugs from the scene. They had put a stop to a serious operation.

The pleasure of a job well done was heavily marred for them all by Vic still being in surgery. Branch told Walt that he'd finish on the scene and once that was done, he'd come over to the hospital to wait for news. When Walt finally hung up the head nurse was looking at him with an odd mixture of annoyance and understanding before taking back the phone and putting it in its proper place.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

It was a good few hours later when the doctor finally reappeared from the depths of the hospital. Walt stood up as he saw her approach and took a few steps toward her. Ferg, who's head had been resting on Branch's shoulder as he slept jerked awake when Branch stood up and they both followed Walt.

"Sheriff Longmire."

"Doctor."

"I understand the bullet passed through another victim before hitting her. This caused a wobble on its trajectory which caused a larger than usual entry wound. This combined with the fact that the bullet shattered on impact with her rib made the damage worse. We spent most of the time trying to find all the fragments of bullet and bone. She had a punctured lung and the broken rib, some damage to her liver and a slight tear to her stomach. It's the last one that is the most worrying purely because of the infection risk, but I'd say it is looking very optimistic. She should be fine in a few weeks." The doctor gave them a small smile and Walt felt like a stone had just rolled off his chest. She would be fine.


	7. A Long Walk Home

A/N I've now written half of the next chapter as well and I have no idea how many more chapters there will be in this story. Also my husband and I are moving in a week so I probably wont be able to post so often as packing takes time. After that I'm going to a place with no access to a computer, let alone the internet for a week. Despite all this, I will not abandon this story, so don't worry if I don't update for a couple of weeks..

Also a huge thank you to all you lovely people who've read, reviewed, favourited and followed this story! You are all wonderful!

I own nothing and make no money.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

Her head was pounding. Slowly opening her eyes Vic could see institutional ceiling tiles and strip lights that were gleaming with light that seemed to be coming from a window somewhere to her right, rather than their own pallid glow. She slowly turned her head and saw a chair next to her bed with a very familiar coat hanging off the back of it. Vic was just contemplating pushing herself into a more upright position when the door on the left side of the room opened and Walt walked in carrying a cup that smelled distinctly of coffee.

"That for me?" she asked, smiling, deciding that sitting up was not such a good idea after all.

"No. This one is mine. You can have some water though. Or I can see if I can't find some ice chips for you." He smiled back and Vic couldn't help but notice the relieved look in his eyes as he scanned her face. It reminded her of another time they had been in the same situation, her in a hospital bed and him coming to visit.

"Water would be good. Thank you." She said as he approached the bedside table that was out of her reach and poured her half a cup before passing it to her. "What happened exactly? I remember the shooting but… I assume the asshat got in a lucky shot." Walt settled himself into the chair after pulling it a little closer to her bed.

"The asshat's shot went through the other guy before hitting you. Chipped rib, punctured lung and stomach and nicks on your liver. He's in hospital too, but he'll soon be in prison for a very long time." He informed her, his voice seeming to waver a little when he listed her injuries.

"Thank you Walt. For saving me." Vic said quietly, laying her hand on his where it rested on his knee. He turned his hand around to grasp hers and give it a gentle squeeze.

"I'm just glad you're ok."

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

It was three days after she woke up before Vic got out of the hospital. The doctor gave her strict instructions on not to lift anything heavy, overexert herself or do anything much apart from take her antibiotics like a good girl. Relieved to be finally getting out, she signed the papers and point blank refused to accept the wheel chair ride to the door.

"I'm not a damn invalid. I'm perfectly capable of walking, so I'll walk." She felt a slight tinge of guilt at shouting at the nurse like that, but pushed it aside and walked to the door. They'd asked her whether she wanted them to call someone to come and get her, or call a taxi, but she had shot them down in that too. Armed with a bag of meds and wearing her outfit from the rave, she tottered out of the hospital.

Two days previously Ruby had called Vic's room and Walt had been called away to attend to a domestic disturbance on the outskirts of town. Despite enjoying his presence Vic had needed some time to think and to come to terms with the new dimension that seemed to be developing in their relationship. He was more open about looking at her and seemed to be more comfortable with touching her and being touched. She'd have been lying to herself if she said that she didn't enjoy the change, but it also made her want to think it over in a nice long bath (not an option with the stitches, even if her new flat would have had a tub), with a glass of wine (also out thanks to the meds) and some relaxing music (not available in the hospital). In absence of all this she wanted the room to herself for a few hours to do some uninterrupted thinking. It was thanks to this desire that she had practically forced Walt out the door, repeating several times that she was fine.

And he hadn't been back since. She'd spent the last day thinking that maybe there was nothing new going on between them after all and it had all been a hallucination caused by her medication, or worse yet, that she had, in her drugged state, pushed the boundaries between them and he had retreated as far as possible at the first opportunity.

Frustrated with the sawing back and forth that was going on in her head, she decided that the mile and a half walk to her new flat wasn't too far, especially if that meant that she didn't have to call the man that she was in love with, but who might have felt nothing towards her. Unfortunately she had not calculated her ridiculous heels that she'd been wearing the night of the shooting into her calculations of the distance. By the time she was less than half way to the building she called home her side felt like it was on fire, her feet were killing her and she was sure there would be nothing left of her little toes once she made it home. She was just swearing under her breath when she heard the distinct sound of a truck slowing down behind her.

"Just what the HELL do you think you're doing?!" Sheriff Walter Longmire had been annoyed, frustrated and even a little bit angry at her before, but now he sounded down right furious. She stopped like she'd hit a wall and slowly turned to look at him. He was standing in front of his truck, arms akimbo, a red tinge colouring his frowning face. His eyes seemed to bore into hers as the frown on his face deepened. "Well?"

"I'm walking home." She responded a little hesitantly, not wanting to aggravate the man standing in front of her.

"Get in the car." He ordered curtly before marching to the passenger side door and opening it for her. Deciding that arguing would produce no results, and admitting to herself that walking had completely lost its appeal in the half a mile she had covered, she made her way to the open door. Vic shivered a little at the heat radiating from his body and the feeling of his hand on her back as he leaned close to help her up onto the seat.

Once he was on his seat he turned to look at her. "Why didn't you have them call me to come and give you a lift home? Or if not me, then one of the others? Or even a cab?" When Vic turned to look at him, she could see the fury had subsided, replaced by a look that was mostly worry, but also a tinge of what seemed to be hurt. Had she hurt his feelings by not asking for his help?

"I'm sorry Walt. I thought... I thought you were all busy with work and I didn't want to cause a fuss and it's not a long way so I figured I could make it on foot."

"Vic. I- We all -care about you. It's not causing a fuss to ask for a ride. You were shot four days ago. You shouldn't be walking any more than you absolutely have to." His hesitation at saying he cared about her made Vic fairly certain that he had been a little offended that she hadn't called him, like he didn't think she really cared for him.

"Thanks. If I would have called anyone, I would have called you." She assured him with a little smile. He sighed deeply and his lips tilted up a little in response.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

When Walt had arrived at the hospital and found Vic's room empty a horrible feeling of panic had descended upon him again. Where was she? A split second later he realised that she had probably been discharged and there was nothing to worry about. He found the nurse in charge of the ward and questioned her about the whereabouts of Deputy Moretti.

"She was discharged about an hour ago."

"Who did she get a lift with?"

"She didn't want us to call anyone, not even a taxi. Told us to mind our own damn business. Then she refused to sit into the wheel chair to be taken to the door. Something about being able to walk so she'd walk." The nurse was obviously not impressed with the way Vic had been acting and even if Walt hadn't known who they were talking about, the nurses description would have made Vic his first suspect. Authority issues indeed.

As he stalked to his car his temper was definitely on the rise. She was hard headed and foolhardy. Why hadn't she called him? Was it because she didn't want him near her? He had been more tactile than normal with her in the hospital before Ruby had called him away. Vic had practically pushed him out the door, insisting that he was wasting his time with her and that she would be perfectly fine on her own. He hadn't been able to stop himself from thinking that she had pushed him out because she had been uncomfortable with how he had behaved since the shooting. That maybe she hadn't wanted to say anything but had needed to go back to the amount of space that had been between them since the beginning, back to the professional relationship. But if that was the case, why hadn't she called Branch or Ferg to come and pick her up.

He realised he was being irrationally angry as he drove down the road towards Vic's house, but that didn't help calm his temper. It was roused even more when he spotted a familiar blonde head of hair walking down the road. He wouldn't have recognised her if it hadn't been for the familiar gleam of her hair on its usual ponytail. She was wearing almost nothing, her skirt indecently short and the heels so high it was a miracle she hadn't toppled over yet. As a man he appreciated the sight of her legs and might have even briefly imagined them wrapped around his waist, but he did not appreciate that everyone else could see that much of her as well. It was stupid but the burst of jealousy just seemed to make him even angrier.

When she turned around at his shout, he could see a flash of the blood-stained white top she was wearing underneath the jean jacket she had on against the distinct autumn chill in the air. The sight of the blood reminded him of how close he had come to losing her and his anger abated a little. She seemed hesitant in her response probably wondering why he was so angry, but she came to the open door without argument. Her heels made them almost equals in height and when he put his hand to her back to help her into the cab, the warmth of her body seemed to awaken his senses. He felt her shiver a little and reminded himself to turn the heat up in the car as he made his way around the front to his side.

The rest of his anger disappeared when she quietly said that if she would have called anyone it would have been him. He allowed his lips to rise into a smile when he glanced at her smiling at him.

"Good."


	8. TLC

I am so sorry for my extended absence. Trying to not go onto a huge rant, but basically the first people to promise us internet were useless and the second lot only a little less so. The engineer never showed up for the appointment and we had to get a new appointment which we could only get for today. But I am back now and will put up two other chapters I've finished besides this one straight away. This is by far the longest chapter I've written for this story. Hope you like it!

Still don't own anything.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

"Do you want me to walk you in?" Walt asked, a slight hesitation apparent in his voice. Vic smiled at him and despite the urge to accept his offer, her flat was a mess and she was tired, in pain and in desperate need of a proper shower and a change of clothes, not to mention several hours in her bed, sleeping.

"Thanks, but I think I can manage it. Besides all I want to do right now is sleep." Walt nodded, realising that this was as close as she would ever get to admitting that trying to walk home was a bad idea.

"Ok. I'll come by tomorrow if you want." He offered and Vic could feel her heart leap a little with hope.

"That would be nice. See you tomorrow." She smiled at him, before carefully climbing out of the car, trying to make it look easier than it really was. She didn't want him worrying too much. Despite the world seeming to spin around her, she made it to the door without too much trouble and as she turned to look behind her, she could see him still sitting there in his car making sure she got in. She smiled and waved, the smile deepening when he waved back before starting the car. With that, she unlocked the front door and staggered in.

The door to her apartment was on the ground floor, for which she was extremely grateful when the spinning of the hallway seemed to intensify. Locking the door behind her she kicked her heels off and stumbled to the sofa as carefully as she could, minding the wound in her side. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the cushion.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

For a moment she wasn't entirely sure where she was. Her head was pounding and her mouth felt like it was full of cotton wool. As she opened her eyes, Vic realised that she was still on the couch where she remembered having fallen when she got home. The pounding she thought was solely in her head turned out to be coming from the door as well. Carefully she pushed herself up, the stitches in her side pulling uncomfortably when she moved too fast.

"I'm coming!" She yelled at the door and thankfully the knocking ceased. Noticing the sticky feeling on her arm, she looked down and saw a new bloodstain on her skin where her arm had pressed against the wound. "Shit."

"Vic!?" Walt's voice was calling from behind the door and she suddenly realised that he was going to tear her a new one if she showed up at the door still in her blood-stained hooker outfit and obviously not having looked after her wound.

"Give me a moment. I'll be right there." She yelled back at Walt and made her way as quickly as possible to her bedroom, tearing the ruined shirt over her head, then grimacing as she could feel another stab of pain in her side. "Shit." She cursed again, tugging the skirt down and swinging the fluffy bathrobe around herself. Taking a quick look into the mirror she pulled another face at the visage greeting her and tried to tuck the hairs that had escaped her braid behind her ears.

Swallowing her apprehension, she looked around the small apartment that wasn't exactly shining with cleanliness, but seeing as there was no time to do anything about it she headed to the door. After all she wasn't entirely sure when Walt's patience would run out and he would burst in through the door, lock and hinges be damned.

She pulled the door open to find him standing behind it with his fist raised to knock again. Without saying anything, she pulled it open further and motioned him in. He looked a bit sheepish as he stepped over the threshold and gazed around the main room of the small flat. She hadn't vacuumed the place since moving in and the little kitchen corner was littered with plates that had once held something edible brought in from the Busy Bee or delivered from a take-out.

"Sorry for the mess." She said picking up a pair of jeans that were lying on the floor near the door to her bedroom. The stitches pulled again and she barely managed to quell the moan of pain. Using her right arm to press against the soreness, she tossed the jeans onto her bed with the left and pulled the bedroom door shut.

"Has your side been bleeding?" the question is quiet, his eyes fixed on the blanket she had pulled on top of herself yesterday before falling asleep. Now that she looked, there was another brownish-red stain there, clearly indicating that her wound had been bleeding.

"I guess I must've torn it a little in my sleep." She replies before realising that admitting she slept on the sofa was probably not something she should do. Luckily he seems not to think it worth commenting.

"Have you changed the bandages since yesterday?"

"No. I just woke up." He nodded like she'd just confirmed his suspicions. Then he turned to look at her and she could see the worry in his eyes along with something that looked a lot like caring.

"Why don't you go and have a shower while I heat up this food and get all the supplies ready. Then I'll check your wound and after that we'll eat." He said indicating to the bedroom door, the bag he was carrying and the bag that was lying on the coffee table where she'd dropped it the previous day. Blushing at the implication that she couldn't take care of herself (she had just been tired yesterday, but that didn't mean that she couldn't handle herself!) she nonetheless nodded and retreated to her bedroom too tired to argue.

Standing in front of the full body mirror that was attached to the bedroom side of the bathroom door, she dropped the bathrobe unsnapped her bra and shimmied out of her panties. Holding her breath, she scratched one edge of the dressing on her side and once she had a hold, pulled it off. She refused to let the tears gathering in her eyes get any further despite the pain as the dressing finally fell off. The skin underneath was pulled together with dark threads, one of which had pulled open, a small bright red stream of blood running down towards her hip. The area was abundantly decorated with green, purple and red marks, the combined effort of bullet, bone and doctors trying to save her life. She dropped the dressing into the bathroom bin before stepping into the shower. She tried to keep the wound as dry as possible, but occasionally streams of water hit the opened stitch and stung cruelly, making her gasp. Reaching up to wash her hair was difficult, but using only one hand she managed.

Finally feeling clean for the first time since leaving that rave she turned the tap off, dried herself off, wrapped her hair into the towel and wondered what to do about clothes. She thought of just going out there in nothing but the robe, but that might move things into a direction that they were probably not quite ready for. Not to mention she still felt like death warmed up and physical exertion was the last thing she wanted at the moment. She couldn't help but feel a degree of admiration for Branch's constitution considering that he had returned to work so quickly. Besides she felt a strange yearning for Walt to be the one initiate the move towards the physical, as she had always been the one to take her relationships to the next level. She didn't think that that would have been the right way to proceed with him, so she decided to wait for him to make the first move.

Deciding on jeans, she put on her underwear (her best bra and matching panties, just in case) and pulled on the jeans. Then she wrapped the robe around herself again and pulled out a button up shirt she could put on after she had the dressing on again. Taking one last look at herself in the mirror she admitted that it wasn't her best look. Her eyes were surrounded by dark circles and seemed sunken, her skin was pale and the faint lines on her face seemed uncomfortably prominent. She looked about ten years older than she was.

Shaking her head, she opened the door to the living space and found Walt sitting on her sofa which he had straightened up, the bloody blanket folded with the stain up so that she could take it to the machine. He'd done the dishes too, she could spot them drying beside the sink. Domestic Walt was something she had never seen before even at his cabin and it woke something inside her, something that demanded to see more of this side of him.

"The food is in the oven. Let's take a look." His words drew her out of her musings. He indicated to her left side as he spoke and she sat down on the sofa next to him. Her hands shook a little as she undid the ties of the robe and she could have sworn she heard a deep intake of breath from the man next to her when she dropped the left shoulder of the robe so he could see the ugly marks on her skin. He helped her peel the sleeve down her arm to completely reveal her bruised and battered ribs.

She leaned away from him slightly and lifted her hand to rest on the back of the couch so he could see what he was doing. The first touch of his fingers felt like an electric shock had gone through her and she jerked without meaning to. He was extremely careful when he prodded the skin around the broken stitch.

"You've pulled one out. I'll pull it together with a steri-strip unless you want to go back to the hospital-"

"No. The strip will be fine." She cut him off before he could finish, but he just nodded and reached for the supplies on the table. Once he'd pulled the edges of the wound back together he peeled off the paper that covered the sticky bits of the large dressings they'd given to her from the hospital and slowly pressed it against her side. Her inhaled gasp had only a little to do with pain when she tenderly stroked the edges of the dressing to get it to stick to her skin. The warmth of his fingers seemed to be burning her skin and she couldn't move. He made one more soothing round around the dressing before pulling his hand back and releasing her from the spell.

"Thanks." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"No problem." His voice wasn't any louder, shaking a little. He cleared his throat before continuing. "I think the food ought to be hot by now." Quickly he got up and moved towards the little kitchenette while she scrambled to stand, pull the robe completely off and pull on the button up shirt. As she was fumbling with the buttons, she realised that it was now one pm and that she had been asleep for almost twenty hours, that entire time passing without her taking her antibiotics or her pain killers. No wonder her side was on fire and her mouth was still as dry as a desert.

Finished with the buttons she turned to go to the sink and fill glasses of water for herself and Walt, but he'd beat her to it indicating she should sit back down as he placed two large cups of water on the coffee table. Her legs still a little unsteady she sat back down gratefully and took a sip of water as she turned the TV on, lowering the volume to background noise. Rummaging in the bag on the table revealed the antibiotics and the pain killers she'd been prescribed and after checking the dosage she counted the right number of pills into her hand and tossed them back with the rest of the water.

Walt pulled the cup from her hands, refilled it and brought it back, followed by two plates full of food. Hungrier than she had realised, she fell on the food like a hungry wolf. Once she had eaten she became very conscious of Walt sitting next to her on her small couch, his leg resting against hers, hot and solid. She could feel his gaze on herself and turned to look back. He had on his sheriff-face, blank and unreadable; she didn't have the faintest of ideas about what he was thinking about.

The moment stretched as they looked at each other and the need to speak, to break the silence was becoming overwhelming. She had always been mouthy and her coping mechanism with long, uncomfortable silences was to fill them with whatever came to mind, usually something inappropriate that would get her into trouble. Just as she was about to break and shatter the silence Walt spoke.

"I've been thinking."

"Yeah. You do that sometimes before you speak, right?" she replied with a little smile.

"Yep." He smiled back, his voice quiet and calm.

"What about?"

"How do you feel about dinner?" The smile was still there, but it took on some of the hesitation from his voice making him seem younger. She could swear she could see a ripple of the teenage Walt Longmire peeking through, asking a girl out for the first time.

"I like dinner. Girls gotta eat, right?" The joke was lame and slightly defensive. She had known he cared about her for a long while, but it was not that easy to let her heart be the one to reply, rather than her smart mouth.

"Would you like to come eat some dinner with me? Some day?" The nervousness was definitely there, stronger than before, but now that she knew for sure what he was asking the answer was easy.

"Yes. That sounds nice. Maybe not tonight though, I'm still a little banged up and the drugs seem to be making me woozy." She let a full smile onto her lips and was rewarded with the same from Walt.

"Ok. You let me know when you're feeling better and I'll make the plans."

The conversation died at that point, the TV was still on and they settled down to watch some repeats of some old daytime TV show.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

He had been knocking on the door for what seemed like an eternity when he finally heard her voice shout that she was coming in a moment. It was a relief to hear her voice as the lack of answer had begun to worry him greatly. When the door finally opened he'd been about to knock again and his arm froze where it had been when he saw her. She looked terrible. The beautiful woman was still there, but she was pale with dark circles around her eyes and looked like she had just gotten up from a restless night. She invited him in apologising for the mess in her place. It wasn't really that bad, his cabin had been worse during the worst times.

He sees her flinch despite her best efforts as she picks up a pair of jeans from the floor and throws them through what he assumes to be the bedroom door, before slamming it shut. As he approaches the couch, his eyes zero in on the blanket that looks like someone slept underneath it last night, the blood stain obvious on the beige surface.

"Has your side been bleeding?" The question falls from his lips, worry creasing his brow. The idea of her sleeping on the couch all alone in the flat with no one to look after her when she needs it twists his stomach.

"I guess I must've torn it a little in my sleep." Her reply is indifferent, almost airy except for the tinge of guilt in her voice, probably because she realises she should have slept in a bed.

"Have you changed the bandages since yesterday?" He quizzes again, hoping she'll answer and not bite his head off for asking the question.

"No. I just woke up."

"Why don't you go and have a shower while I heat up this food and get all the supplies ready. Then I'll check your wound and after that we'll eat." He doesn't really expect her to agree, after all they're not at work and she is usually so independent. To his surprise she acquiesces and disappears into the bedroom. To distract himself from the thought of a very naked Victoria Moretti in the other room, he proceeds to tidy up as much as he can, straightening up the couch, doing the dishes and sticking the food into the oven to heat up.

Walt sat down on the sofa, pulling out everything they'd need for cleaning and re-bandaging Vic's wound. She came out of the bedroom wrapped in the same robe as she was wearing before, but now he could see that she's wearing jeans underneath. As she sits down and shrugs the robe off of one shoulder, revealing that underneath she was wearing nothing but a bra Walt could feel his breath catching. Forcing himself to concentrate on the ugly mess of partly healed cut and contusions rather than the expanse of smooth soft looking skin barely covered by her lacy bra, he touches her side. The skin is soft but also very sore judging by the way Vic jerks back a little at the first touch. As carefully as possible he cleans the place where the stitch has pulled open and sticks it closed with a steri-strip before smoothing a large self-adhesive dressing on the whole thing and if his fingers make an extra round around the edges it's just to make sure the dressing doesn't fall off, it has nothing to do with the intoxicating feel of her skin under his fingers.

Shaking himself out of his reverie he tidied up the mess and got the food while Vic got dressed. He was unable to stop from looking back towards her when he reached the kitchen, the way her muscles moved under the skin as she shrugged on her shirt. He was distracted for the rest of the meal, unable to stop thinking about how close she had come to dying, how he had almost lost her before ever even getting the chance to know her as well as he wanted and he'd have been lying to himself if he didn't admit to spending more time than was decent on memorising the way she looked sitting on the sofa in nothing but her jeans and the bra.

As they finished dinner he couldn't stop looking at her, the way her hair was loose around her face and her skin seemed to have gained back some of the colour it had lost. She turned to look back at him and for the longest time they just stared at each other before he could sense that she was about to burst, silences never really her thing, especially if someone was watching her.

"I've been thinking." The words escaped his mouth before he could stop them, but now that they were out, he decided he might as well continue.

"Yeah. You do that sometimes before you talk, right?" He recognised his own words being thrown back and answered her smile in kind.

"Yep."

"What about?"

"How do you feel about dinner?" At first she looked taken aback, like he had suddenly started speaking a foreign language, before answering with a joke. The nervousness that had been coursing through him wasn't eased, but seemed to be intensifying.

"Would you like to come eat some dinner with me? Some day?" He expanded and she was smiling widely again before saying yes. The relief that he hadn't been barking up the wrong tree made the tension in his muscles ease off and they agreed to agree on the day later, when she was feeling better.

Walt and Vic spend the rest of the day on the couch watching television at least until Vic's medication made her fall asleep, her head sliding to rest on Walt's shoulder. He sat there for a little while longer before carefully getting up. He gathered her into his arms and carried her to her bedroom, laying her down before tucking her in. Before leaving he set a glass of water, a sandwich and her antibiotics on her bedside table along with her phone, which he set up to go off so she could take her pills on time. Then he turned off the television and left, feeling distinctly hopeful about the future.


	9. Back on the Saddle

I'd like to confirm that Vic's neighbours are based on my own personal experiences with neighbours… It can be rather annoying and frustrating, especially if you're having a dry spell. ;)

As you might have noticed this story contradicts season three in places because I started writing this before I'd seen more than an episode of season three.

I don't own the characters, only the so called plot is from my head.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

Her recovery was driving her insane she decided. It had been four days since she was released from the hospital and sitting around at home all day was not making her feel any better. The almost constant loud music and the impressively frequent sounds of overly enthusiastic sex were not doing anything to improve her temper. She decided that enough was enough and if anyone at work questioned why she sometimes had to grab hold of anything within arm's reach to stop from falling into a heap on the floor and the fact that she could really only walk for ten minutes before the world started to shift and distort in disturbing ways that threatened to make her loose what little food she had managed down, she'd smack them across the face. And then probably fall flat on hers.

Cursing the bastard who shot her, she carefully pulled on her uniform shirt and dug around her living room for her car keys. Walt had dropped her car around a couple days previously, but they hadn't had a chance to talk any more as a call came through for him to meet Ferg at a crime scene. Climbing up to the driver's seat jostled her broken ribs but she gritted her teeth until she was sitting behind the wheel.

The drive to the sheriff's station was short and the traffic was slow so she was parked outside in no time. Gingerly climbing out of the cab, she made her way to the door and looked up the stairs that seemed to go on forever. Reaching the top she staggered to the door and leaned on it for a moment or two before drawing in a deep breath and pushing it open. The station was empty. There was no Ferg conscientiously shifting through piles and piles of reports or other paperwork. No Branch with his heels on his desk, tossing a ball against the ceiling while on hold with one agency or another. No Ruby doing internet searches, answering complaints of dogs running loose or for sightings of wild animals on yards. No Walt sitting in his office reading through one case file or another.

She glanced at the clock and realised it was lunch time. Ruby was probably fetching something to eat and the rest of the crew were on calls. Glad to postpone the lecture on resting after being injured, she staggered to her chair and gratefully settled down. She had just grabbed the papers for the case she had been working on before they'd had the break in the drug dealer case when Ruby appeared through the door.

"Oh goodness, you gave me a fright." She visibly jumped at the sight of Vic sitting in her chair, shuffling papers and pressed a hand to her chest.

"Sorry Ruby. Didn't mean to scare you." Looking up from her work Vic could see Ruby looking at her with a shrewd expression and her hands on her hips.

"Shouldn't you be at home, resting up?" Ruby approached Vic's table, looking at her from head to toes. Clearly noting the cautious movement when reaching for another pile of papers, the dark circles around her eyes and the deepened lines on the younger woman's face. Uncomfortable with Ruby's inspection, Vic looked back down at the papers and replied as casually as possible:

"I'm fine. Been resting too much, I needed to get out of the house. I'm just going to be doing paperwork, nothing more taxing than that. Besides it looks like you could use the help." She pleaded, adding the last in the end to make Ruby realise that she could be useful despite her wobbly state.

The older woman scrutinised her further until she simply nodded and turned back to her own desk. Vic let out a sigh of relief and hoped that the rest of the crew would be so easy to persuade.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

To her relief both Branch and Ferg seemed to be nothing but glad to have her back, probably so that they could delegate some of the tedious paperwork to her. Vic didn't really care, at least she wasn't at home lying on the sofa wondering when there would be a moment of quiet from next door. She was already well into the pile of stuff she'd been working on before the shooting when Walt walked in through the door. He paused for a nearly imperceptible moment when he saw Vic sitting on her usual seat, before continuing to his office, commanding over his shoulder;

"Vic, my office. Now." Both the boys looked at her with expressions of mingled pity and hilarity at the amount of trouble they thought she was in. Carefully she pushed herself out of her chair and made her way through the doors to Walt's office, being sure to close the door behind her. No matter what he wanted to talk to her about, it wasn't something she wanted everyone to hear.

Having decided that asking what was wrong, was the wrong approach in this case, she turned from the closed door and faced Walt, making sure to take a few steps into the room so he could see that she could stand fully upright without support. He was standing behind his desk, hands on his hips, providing a very impressive figure against the wood panelled walls and the massive desk. Keeping her silence she took the moment to appreciate the rugged man in front of her and wonder about the fact that he had basically asked her out.

"How're you feeling?" the suddenness of his voice jerked her out of her appreciation of him.

"I'm ok. Not the best, but not bad." She went with honesty, since Walt wouldn't have bought 'I'm fine' on the best of days, let alone on her first day back from getting shot.

"Good. Don't overdo it, okay?" she nodded her reply and he moved from behind the table, the official part of her visit obviously done, judging by his relaxed stance. She didn't move as he approached and reached for her hand, taking it into his carefully. His hand was big and warm on hers, his fingers and palms calloused in places, rough against the thin skin on the top of her hand. She shivered.

"I'm glad you're ok." He almost whispered, still holding her hand gently in his, his thumb rubbing circles and figure eights on the underside of her wrist, the contact making her pulse go haywire. Looking up into his eyes she saw the fear and pain of losing Martha, but also the fear that he might lose again.

"It's ok Walt. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." She reached out with the hand not held by his and laid it against the scruff of his cheek, her other hand tightening around his. He nodded weakly, leaning his face against her hand and she smiled at him. This version of Walt, the one that allowed his feelings to the surface was new to her and had she thought about it earlier the concept would have shaken her. The idea that Sheriff Walter Longmire wasn't always unflappable and imperturbable might have rocked her faith in him, but seeing how much he cared made her want to hold him and never let go.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

Walt was not prepared for the sight of Vic sitting there at her desk like nothing had happened. He was not unhappy to see her, on the contrary, for days now her empty seat had mocked him, constantly reminding him how close he had come to never seeing her again. The sight of her where she should be made his heart leap with joy, despite the unusual slump to her shoulders and the dark circles around her eyes. She was alive. He kept his words and tone curt to conceal the emotions raging inside of him and when he heard the door shut behind her he turned around to face her, his hands on his hips to contain the urge to touch her. When she looked up from the door her face was all consternation and annoyance at his tone and he could tell she was waiting for him to start.

He went with the platitude, rather than confess that there was no sight more likely to make his heart roar and his blood sing than to see her standing there, blonde hair brushed into a no nonsense ponytail, uniform shirt just a smidge too tight and one too many buttons undone. She was a vision and as she relaxed and let herself smile, he couldn't help it anymore but walked around the table he'd purposefully placed between them and took her hand in his. It was strong, smooth and warm in his, he could feel the slight callouses at the base of her fingers as his fingers studied her skin. Her shiver was his undoing and he couldn't keep the depth of his relief to himself anymore. She reassured him as always, her other hand ending up on his cheek and he thought his heart was going to explode.

Eventually they had to move and get back to the business of protecting the people of Absaroka County. Even though he loathed to let go of her hand, he released it, taking a few steps back to lean against the edge of his table. He filled her in to everything important that had happened while she was gone while filling himself with the sight of her. Soon she went back to the main office and he sat back behind his desk. Everything was as it used to be and everything was different. Life was good.


	10. Forward Momentum

Nope, not mine.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

"So. How about that dinner?" Vic had been back at work for almost two weeks and since the meeting in Walt's office, there had been nothing to indicate that they were anything more than the Sheriff and his Deputy. Vic had begun to think that Walt had completely forgotten the whole conversation relating to the possible new developments in their relationship. She glanced at him over her shoulder as he stood leaning against the doorway to his office, arms crossed.

"I could do with getting out of the flat for something more than just work. When?" she admitted, butterflies erupting in her stomach as she turned back to straighten the pile of papers in the file she'd been going through in preparation to handing it over to the prosecutor. They were alone in the office as it was half past six in the evening, Ruby and Ferg having signed out and Branch being on call for the night. She closed the file and spun her chair around to face him all the way as he spoke again.

"I was thinking tonight. If that's alright with you."

"Tonight?"

"Too quick?"

"No, I'd just like to not wear my uniform to what I assume is meant to be a date." She teased him, smiling at the slightest blush that rose on his face. She knew him well enough now that she could see it when most people would probably miss it.

"I was hoping it would be a date. Pick you up at eight?"

"Make it eight thirty and we have a date, cowboy. Where are we going?" He nodded before replying.

"I was going to surprise you."

"I'd like to know what to wear. Is it the Red Pony? Or something else."

"Something else. I think you'll like it."

"Ooh, mysterious."

"Yep."

"In that case, Boss I'd like to call it a night now. I have a big date tonight and I need to get ready." Vic winked at Walt and his lips were twitching into a smile as they looked at each other.

"Okay Deputy Moretti. I hope you have a good night tonight. See you later."

"Thanks boss. See you at eight thirty."

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

A little after two hours later, Walt pulled up outside the rundown apartment complex Vic called home. Jumping out of his Bronco, he straightened his tie and shrugged his shoulders inside his best, dark leather jacket, before marching towards the front door of the apartments. He rang the bell for Vic's apartment and eventually he heard her through the speaker.

"Yes?"

"Vic. It's me. Ready to go?"

"Sure thing Walt. Give me a moment, I'll be right there."

The speaker went quiet, but before a few seconds had passed, Walt could hear a door slam in the hallway and then he saw her. She emerged from the gloom of the hallway like an apparition and even through the grimy door he could see she was a vision. Her hair was curled and loose, brushing her chest. She was wearing a short, long sleeved, dark blue lacy dress that was see through, except where a black slip was underneath it, covering everything except her shoulders and arms, where her skin glowed through the lace. Her black heels were high and he thought her legs would never end.

"Wow." It was the single most clichéd thing he could have said, but it was also the only thing that his brain could produce, the sight of her seemed to have completely addled him.

"You clean up well too." She said, a small smile lingering on her lips as she stepped fully out the door, letting it close behind her. The slamming of the door shook him from his reverie and proffered his arm out to her and she grasped it gratefully as they made their way to the Bronco.

She struggled slightly with the high step up into the truck, even with his help, but managed it in the end only giving him the briefest, tantalising little glimpse of thigh. He knew that he shouldn't look, that he was behaving like some kind of old lecher, but he was just a man after all and there was only so much temptation a man could resist. And Victoria Moretti was proving to be more temptation than he knew how to deal with.

He had chosen a new steak restaurant in town for their date. He knew that tongues would be wagging well before their night was over, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He had checked the city charter and there were no limitations on the relationships between the people working at the sheriff's station, so there was nothing anyone could do about them seeing each other. That didn't mean he wasn't nervous. He was full well aware of the kind of rumour mill they were about to start and what the consequences might be for their lives in the community. He needed to make sure that Vic knew exactly what she was doing as well.

"Vic, we need to talk." He glanced over at her and could see the surprise on her face.

"This sounds serious. Go ahead." He had half expected her to throw a joke about him wanting to talk, but was grateful that she seemed to comprehend that what he had to say was serious.

"You do know what this could mean for us. I mean that there will be talk and gossip and accusations of favouritism. This might affect everything from doing your groceries to having your hair done."

"Walt…" she hesitated before continuing, "If I didn't know you so well, I would think you're trying to talk me out of this date." He went to interrupt, but she wouldn't let him. "However, I know what you're trying to do. I never grew up in a small town. In Philly you could always escape the gossip by blending into the masses, but here there is no choice. Everyone knows everyone else's business. And as the Sheriff and his Deputy everyone knows us, therefore everyone knows even more of our business, or think they do. So yes, I am prepared to take the gossip and everything that comes with it. Are you?"

"Won't lie and say I'm looking forward to it, but we're doing nothing wrong and I for one am very happy we're doing this. Screw them." Her smile was radiant as she scooted a little closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder, her hand resting on his thigh seemed to burn him through his jeans.

He pulled up at the restaurant and hurried to the other side of the car to help Vic down. She took his hand and the door before stepping down.

"Thank you." She said quietly looking up at him her heels bringing them almost but not quite eye to eye. Despite the fact that all his senses were screaming at him to kiss her right there in the parking lot, his gentlemanly instincts kicked in and he merely offered her his arm as they turned towards the restaurant.

As the waiter came to direct them to a table, he asked for a secluded one in the vain hope that the busy restaurant would have a quiet one tucked away in a corner somewhere. No such luck. The ended up being seated in the middle of one of the sides next to a window, which had to be better than sitting in the middle of the floor. He realised that despite being ready and willing to take the consequences of what they were doing, he still didn't want to flaunt their new connection.

The conversation flowed quite normally as they discussed everything from recent news to things they enjoyed on their free time. Without ever having made a verbal agreement, there was no shop talk. The food was good and the beer selection was excellent according to Vic, although Walt stuck to one bottle of Renier with his meal. They decided to skip desert in favour of heading to the Red Pony for a night cap before calling it a night. Being out of practice he still managed to remember to make sure he paid the bill, help her with her chair and the door and was feeling pretty good about the way things were going.

The Red Pony was as busy as it always was, but they managed to find seats at the bar. It was obvious that Henry noticed them as soon as they got in, but all Walt got was a raised eyebrow and a twist of his lips, at least until Henry approached them to take their orders.

"Walt. Vic. What can I get you?"

"I'll have a beer."

"Make that two. Thanks Henry." Vic smiled at Henry as he nodded and retreated to fetch their beers. He was back very quickly and handed the bottles over. The look on his face told Walt that he was about to land in hot water thanks to his best friend, and sure enough…

"So he finally plucked up the courage to ask you out. I did suggest that a date was how normal people approached getting closer to those they like." To Walt's relief Vic threw her head back as she laughed before turning to him and asking:

"You asked Henry for advice?"

"Not so much for advice. Just what he thought of the situation."

"Well he gave you good advice cowboy. Thanks Henry."

"Not a problem Vic. You take care of him now." Henry nodded solemnly looking at Vic closely.

"I'll do my best." She smiled again and turned to look at Walt, her eyes full of happiness and affection. Henry retreated to serve other customers and the couple sank back into their previous conversation about football and what teams looked to be doing well. Their beers were quickly finished and despite the early hour they decided to call it a night since they both had to be at the office in the morning.

The short walk to the car did nothing to stop Walt from yearning to spend more time with Vic now that he'd had the chance to do so. He was greedy and wanted more, possibly for every evening for the rest of their lives. He was about to say as much as they got to the bronco and turned to face her. But she was already there, standing so close he would only need to breathe in deeply and their chests would brush together. She leaned forward just a little more and he didn't stop himself from leaning towards her. Their lips met softly, no other parts of their bodies touching until he raised a hand to gently touch the back of her head and pull her closer. Her hands suddenly moved as well, winding themselves around him, one resting on his waist the other rising behind his back to stroke his neck. He used his other hand to pull her even closer, making sure to eliminate all space between them as the kiss morphed from a simple, fairly innocent touching of lips into something else. With one touch of her tongue to his lips the kiss became a hungry thing, demanding and hot.

The kiss seemed to never end and he didn't want it to. Kissing Vic was like breathing for the first time in a long time. She was air itself and he had been without her for so long he was loath to let go. The irony was that it was the need for air that separated them. Neither retreated far, as they stood toe to toe breathing heavily. Vic let her forehead fall against Walt's chest and let out a breathy chuckle. He couldn't help himself smiling and as she lifted her face to his, he only had to see her eyes to renew their previous contact.

This time they skipped the tentative part and went straight to trying to consume each other. After a moment, holding her close was no longer enough, so he spun them around so she was next to the bronco and he could press her against the side of the car, his hands sliding from her hair to her waist, ending on her hips, his thumbs stroking the arches of her hip bones through the dress. The manoeuvre earned him a muffled gasp and she lifted up one leg to twine it behind his thigh, using it to bring him even closer. Before his brain could acknowledge the rather precarious situation they were already in, his hand slid down the thigh wrapped around him and reached the edge of her dress. He moved his lips from hers to her neck and at the same time moved his hand back up her thigh, pushing up the dress as he went. The way her hand tightened on his hair and pulled his hips closer by his belt loop he knew he was on the right track.

They were both brought back to reality by the sudden glare of lights that swung over them as another car pulled up to the parking lot. Suddenly very glad he had parked in the back corner where there was little light, Walt carefully let go of Vic's thigh, smoothing the dress down as he went. Her hands loosened their grip rather reluctantly, allowing him to step back. Walt looked at the full picture she presented for the first time since they'd arrived at the car and he had to admit she was a sight. Her hair mussed by his fingers, her lips and neck slightly redder and swollen from his kisses, her legs still a bit unsteady, judging by the way she was leaning against the side of the bronco.

After having taken a moment to take control of himself, he stepped closer to her again and smoothed her hair down to the best of his ability. She seemed to have gained control too and looked up at him, a crooked smile on her lips, her eyes twinkling in the distant light of the streetlights.

"Who knew… Is that why you don't talk a lot?"

"What?"

"You prefer to save the use of your mouth for more enjoyable activities."

He smiled at her and she chuckled as he leant down to rest his forehead against hers. They stood like that for a while before he could feel Vic shivering in the cool night air. Reluctantly they separated and he pulled the door open for her and helped her in. Once he had gotten to the driver's seat and turned on the heating he looked over at her, only to find her already staring at him.

"I don't want this night to end." He said, about as boldly as he could manage without begging her to come home with him and let him wake up next to her.

"I don't want it to end either. Can you take me to yours cowboy?" she smiled, nervousness only evident in the slight apprehension in her eyes and the little twitch of her lips.

"Yes. I don't think I could compete with your neighbours." Her laughter filled the car and his heart.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

His lips were burning her, leaving a fiery trail across the skin of her neck. In response she tightened her hands on his hair and waist, pulling him closer, hiking up her leg to angle him where she needed him most. The ridge in his jeans was rubbing up and down as he seemingly unconsciously moved his hips against her. Walt's hand was hot on her leg, sliding up underneath the hem of her dress and she didn't have the brainpower or desire to stop him.

The flash of headlights jerked them out of the cocoon of intimacy they'd been wrapped up in, reminding them that they were in fact in a public place. After having caught their breaths they got into the bronco and decided to continue the night at Walt's cabin.

Vic could hardly believe the turn her day had taken. She knew her near death experience had shaken Walt, especially considering he'd lost Martha to violence as well, but she never would have guessed that they'd moved straight from colleagues to spending the night together in one day. Not that she was complaining. Not at all. If the kissing was any indication she was about to be a _very_ lucky girl since Walt's general attitude of slow and thorough seemed to be reflected to his personal relationships too. The smile curled her lips as she pondered on what else she might learn of her friend tonight.


	11. Synchronization

A/N So this story was supposed to be over in chapter 5 or 6, but here we are in chapter 11... Oh well. Sorry it has taken me so long to update, real life has a way of throwing up distractions such as jobs etc. Not to mention this chapter proved hard to write to the level I wanted it to be at. And I might have discovered The Last Ship and now have a burning urge to write something for it…

I know someone commented on how Vic would still be in pain and not up for anything amorous. Sorry if it has broken the story for you, but I broke my foot couple of years ago and was putting weight on it three weeks later, I'm pretty sure that her ribs wouldn't be that sore after three weeks. If it still bothers you, call it artistic license. If you can't get past it, don't read.

WARNING! This chapter is M-rated. NSFW! If that's not your cup of tea, feel free to skip this one and join me again on the next one which will probably be the last one. I will be bumping up the rating for the whole story as well I think. There won't be any story advancement (apart from their first night together) in this chapter so skipping it shouldn't be a problem.

Anyway, I still don't own any of this stuff. Just playing around with it.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

The moon was no more than a thin slice on the sky, but the night was so clear that once Walt had turned the headlights off, they could see enough to not trip and fall. The stars seemed cold and far away and Vic could see the puffs of steam that escaped her lips with each breath as she climbed down with Walt's assistance and they made their way to his front door. Closing the door behind her Vic took in the cabin. Not many things had changed apart from the piano being dust free and the room seemed to have a homier feel to it. Like the man living there was finally starting to actually live, not just exist. Other signs had been visible when she'd seen the cabin before in daylight with the fixed roof and the actual steps leading up to the porch.

Finished with examining the room, Vic turned her gaze to the man that was now bent over by the fireplace, getting the fire started so they could get some warmth into the chill that had entered the room with them. She couldn't take her eyes off this man who was her colleague, her partner, her friend, and now about to become her lover. He was a man of honor. He was a man who you could count on to be truthful to his word, who would always be there for those he cared about. A strong man who could take her strength and her will and match it, a man she could be the equal of. She wouldn't have to pretend to be weaker than she was with him.

Suddenly Walt turned to her and stood up, the movement pulling her from her reverie. She kept watching as he approached her, his boot heels thumping against the wooden floor, his hand rising to smooth his hair down, like he always did when he was nervous about something. Then he was standing in front of her, watching her like she was watching him. Taking her hands into his he raised them up and placed a gentle kiss on both knuckles, igniting a small amount of the fire that had burned within Vic on the car park of the Red Pony. When he gently pulled her forward, she followed with no objections, in equal silence.

They passed through the doorway to the bedroom and the air between them seemed to gain an electrical charge and Vic could feel her pulse starting to pick up. When Walt came to a stop by the bed and turned to her, she rested her hand on his shoulder and bent down to undo the strap that held her heels on, the shoes clunking loudly onto the wood floor one by one. When she straightened up, she relished how small Walt made her feel, him still in his boots and her barefoot. He seemed to tower over her and she didn't mind one bit.

He bent forwards, lowering his face to hers, their lips making soft contact. The current in the air seemed to gather at the point of contact and grow. Vic raised her hands to his collar, grabbing it and pulling his face further down as he gathered her into his arms and pulled her closer to him. The kiss continued, building in intensity with the addition of tongues and teeth, both their breathing growing more ragged and their hands beginning to wander. Her hands followed his collar to his hair, relishing in its softness, before sliding down to his shoulders. One of his hands followed the line of the hidden zipper of her dress up and the other wandered down to her ass, bringing their bodies to a heady full contact.

She gasped a little, the pressure of his body to hers both pleasurable and a little painful thanks to her still slightly sore ribs. Everything about Walt seemed almost designed to take her breath away. From the first moment they'd met, his piercing blue gaze almost seemed to see right through her, through all the crap that she had gathered to her over the years. It seemed like he saw her as she was inside, not the image she projected to protect herself, whether from suspects or overbearing male colleagues who seemed to feel that she was not fit to be a cop. Walt always saw her, and never found her truly wanting, despite his occasional censorious look. Now he was taking her breath away literally.

Their kiss continued unrelenting despite the occasional need to draw deeper breaths and as Walt pulled her even closer he grasped her hair and bent her head to the side a little, allowing himself access to her neck, kissing every inch of skin between her mouth and her clavicle where he settled to lavish her skin with his lips and tongue. Vic couldn't help the groan that escaped her as the contrast between his soft lips, strong tongue and slight roughness of the returning stubble. Despite her hands shaking a little and her knees being distinctly wobbly, she grasped his tie and pulled it out and undid a few of the topmost buttons before moving her attention to the waist band of his jeans. As she unsnapped and zipped his jeans it was his turn to groan as the constriction eased and she forced him to let go of her as she pulled his shirt out of his jeans and over his head in one move.

As soon as he could see again, his hands went immediately to her dress and unzipped it in one smooth pull. He kissed her again before gently pushing the dress off her shoulders and dropping it to pool on the floor. She could feel herself blushing as his heated gaze raked over the black lace underwear set she had bought the week before for exactly this occasion. No matter how gruff Walt seemed, Vic had been willing to bet that he appreciated a woman who dressed up in lace for him.

"Mr Longmire, I do believe you are staring at me."

"Miss Moretti, I do believe that was your intention. And I intend to take advantage of the situation which has presented itself by staring some more."

"Hopefully also something more than just staring."

"Yup."

At that he gathered her close again and sank his head to kiss the tops of her breasts as his hands went to unsnap her bra. Once the obstacle was removed, his head sank even lower as he gently kissed the scar the bullet had left behind and the slight bruising still visible on her pale skin. Slowly he took first one and then the other nipple into his mouth sucking them and laving his tongue over the raised points. Vic threaded her fingers through his hair to encourage him, which he took to heart and added teeth to the mix, making her knees sag a little. Determined to repay in kind, she grasped the opened waistband of his jeans and pushed them down his hips, leaving him standing there in nothing but his boxers, his enthusiasm exceedingly obvious.

He lifted his head from her breasts and sat down onto the edge of the bed starting to struggle out of his boots and socks. A little giggle escaped Vic before she decided to assist him as he shot her a fake injured look at her levity.

"You know, you shouldn't really be laughing at an old man who is in this predicament thanks to you."

"Stop with the 'old man' nonsense. You are exactly as I want you." She replied a little sharply shaking her head she kneeled beside the bed, grasped his left boot and pulled as he dug his fingers into the edge of the mattress so as to stop from sliding onto the floor. Once she had helped extricate him from his jeans boots and socks she stood up slowly, feeling his eyes slide over the curves of her body. She approached him and just as he was about to stand up again, she pushed him back down onto the bed and then onto his back as she climbed to sit astride him, pushing his wrists into the mattress. He seemed perfectly content to lay there gazing up at her for a moment before lifting his head up and capturing her mouth again, while thrusting his hips up into hers, awakening another little parcel of lust within her.

If Vic had had any doubts about how well their relationship might translate into the bedroom, she need not have fretted. He seemed to know instinctively exactly how to kiss her and how to move against her to drive her crazy. As he thrust his hips upward again, he suddenly spread out his arms that were still being held down by her, making her fall down onto him, gasping at the sudden contact her aching nipples made with his hairy chest. Even pinned down he was taking the lead and Vic couldn't help but remembering a similar situation with her ex-husband and how he had been unable to even give her much of a fight for control. The thought fled from her mind as all of a sudden Walt was pushing himself up into a sitting position, her weight seemingly nothing to him.

He kissed her again before extricating his wrists from her hold with one simple smooth movement and wrapping his arms around her to hold her to him as he stood up, pulled the duvet down and laid her gently on the bed. He slipped in after her and pulled the covers over them, sealing out the cool air of the room.

Vic curled up next to Walt's warmth, her head resting on his shoulder and his arm wrapped around her, hand stroking her stomach. They lay there for a moment or ten, just listening to each other's breathing, the momentum of before settling down to a slower pace. Slowly she moved her hand up and down, through the coarse hairs on his chest and stomach, carding it between her fingers eventually lifting her hand to his nipple and giving it a little flick, causing him to inhale suddenly. With careful deliberation Walt's hand moved from her stomach up to her breast and he responded by flicking her nipple in turn. When she responded by slightly arching her back, pushing her breast into his hand he began to run his thumb in circles around the areola, the rough skin catching a little, making her gasp as her hand followed the hairs on his chest lower and lower.

When she finally reached for him inside his boxers and wrapped her hand around his jutting length, she could feel the shudder that ran through him. A groan escaped and the thumb stopped its dizzying circling as she stroked upwards and ran her thumb across the sensitive head. She repeated the movement a few times before he suddenly pulled back and pushed her onto her back.

"Keep going like that and our evening will end much faster than you'd like." He panted a little, before bending his head back to her breasts. Her answer was lost in a moan that tore from her throat at the feel of his mouth on her skin and his hand sliding down to cup her core through her panties. Desperate to feel more, she grasped the edges of her remaining piece of clothing and pulled struggled to pull it down. Quick on the pickup, Walt helped her, never ceasing his attentions to her breasts.

His hand returned to its previous spot and started a slow circular motion between her lower lips and over her clitoris that coupled with his mouth still on her breast made her breath catch and her back bow off the bed. Her just healed ribs added a tinge of burning pain that made the pleasure of what he was doing even greater. Clenching her hands into the sheets she let out an almost inhuman sound as he pushed two of his fingers into her wetness as his thumb took over the teasing of her clit. With a few beckoning motions of his fingers on that especially sensitive spot inside her, he pushed her over the edge of her release and she was lost.

VWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVWVW

He slowed his movements as she sank back into the bed. He looked up to see her eyes closed and an unusually open, almost fragile look on her face as she recovered from her orgasm. He couldn't help but feel a touch of masculine pride over how well he had managed to pleasure her, despite his lack of recent practice. Kissing the pink tip of her nipple one more time, he extracted his hand from between her legs and licked his fingers clean, wanting to taste her but deciding to leave it for another day.

Finding the box of condoms he had put into the drawer of the bedside table didn't take long. Getting the damn thing open seemed to be impossible. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Vic lying on her back with her eyes open looking at him. He could feel the blush of embarrassment spread across his face as he continued to struggle with the box. Without a word and with a gentle peck at his lips, Vic plucked the box from his hands and slit a fingernail beneath the troublesome plastic wrapping.

In no time she was holding one of the little sliver packages in her hand and then she was kissing him like there was no tomorrow. The embarrassment had deflated his enthusiasm a little, but her kiss and the way she was stroking his cock soon brought him back to full attention. Before he could do more than draw a deep breath, she had the condom in her hands and was rolling it down his length. In the next moment she was on her knees above him, rising out of the duvet in front of him like Aphrodite from sea foam.

His hands rose to steady her hips as she guided him to her entrance and sank onto him, throwing her head back, raising her hands to stroke her own breasts. He had loved her for what seemed to be forever, but the sight of her there above him was enough to make his heart contract and his breath to lock up. It was that or then the pleasure was causing him to have a heart attack.

They quickly found their rhythm and before long he was struggling to hold on, determined to have her come one more time before he would follow her into oblivion. Moving his right hand across, his thumb found her slick centre and followed it to her clitoris. A few teasing flicks and her rhythm was broken a little as her hips stuttered and her head fell backwards, pushing her hips toward his thumb. Taking advantage of her distraction, he tipped and twisted them to the side so she was beneath him, eyes opening with surprise. Another flick with his thumb and her eyes closed again, his name a moan on her lips as he bent his head to that tender place just below her ear and started rocking his hips into hers a little more quickly.

"Walt! Oh god. Oh god, harder!" As he increased the tempo and made sure to go as deep as possible, she suddenly tensed underneath him and then his world disappeared with the pulsing of her around him.

He had managed to fall next to her, rather than on top so as to not crush her still healing ribs. After recovering his wits he disposed of the condom and turned off the lights, and they sank into the bed pulling the covers up high, falling asleep wrapped in each other.


End file.
